Letter-box



J. TREGURTHA. LETTER BOX.

(No Model.)

Patented Aug. 5, 1890..

iiwnlor:

Janaes De urliuo,

Wilnesses:

J JQMQ/M/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES TREGURTHA, OFMALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

L ETT E R B O X SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,665, dated August 5, 1890. Application filed August 5. 1889. Serial No. 319,789- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES TREGURTHA, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-Boxes, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

Myinvention relates to that class of letterboxes in which letters or other inailable packages are deposited on the street and in public buildings, to be afterward collected by a government official; and it consists in certain novel features of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts,which will be readily understood by reference to the description of the drawings and to the claims hereinafter given, and in which my invention is clearly pointed out.

The street letter-boxes now generally in use are provided with hinged pendent covers or flaps for closing the slots through which the the letters are introduced to the interiors of the boxes. This flap or cover has to be lifted before a letter or postal-card can beinserted, necessitating the use of both hands to insert a letter. This is an objection, and to overcome it and so construct the box that the slot shall 'be closed and properly protected-from the weather, and at the same time render it perfectly easy to insert the letter, postal-card, or other mail-matter into the interior of the box with the use of only one hand, is the object of my invention. To this end I construct the box as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a front end elevation of a box embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a section of the upper front portion of the box on line 00 x on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the slot-closing flap and its supporting-plate, the cuttingplane being on line 3 g on Fig. 2.

In the drawings, A is the main body of the box, provided with the door a to give access to the interior for the removal of the letters deposited therein, and having formed in one end wall thereof a slot I), through which letters and postal-cards are to be deposited therein. So far the box is of ordinary construction and is not of my invention.

In place of the ordinary outwardly-swing= ing flap for closing the slot b, I pivot the flap c on journals or pins (Z, fitted in or formed upon the ends of said flap in such a manner and in such a position that its lower edge may be moved inward and upward to uncover said slot and permit the introduction of aletter or postal-card to the interior of the box by simply pressing the end of the letter or card against the lower portion of said flap.

For convenience in construction and to facilitate the application of my invention to letter-boxes now in use, I prefer to mount the slot-closing flap in a detachable I segmental plate B and secure it to the front of the box above the slot 12 by one or more screws 6, as shown in Fig. 2. The plate B is provided with the outwardly-projecting rib or bead f, extending along the upper side of the slot and projecting downward at each end of said slot, as shown in Fig. 1. In the downwardly-projecting portions of said rib or bead are formed ledges g g, upon which the ends of the flap 0 rest when in its normal or closed position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The front lower corner of the flap 0 when said flap is in its closed normal position is slightlyin front of the front lower corner of the wall of the slot 6, so as to effectually prevent water flowing therefrom into the box, and the lower wall of said slot (2 is inclined downward and outward as an additional safeguard against water entering the box.

The plate B may, if desired, be formed in one piece with the front wall of the box without affecting the principal feature of my invention, which is the inwardly-swinging flap 0, constructed and arranged to be operated by the pressure of the end of the letter or postal-card applied thereto.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent 0f the United States, is

1. A letter-box provided with a slot for the introduction of mail-matter thereto, in combination with a pivoted flap for closing said slot, constructed and arranged to rest in an inclined position with its front lower corner just in front of the front lower corner of said slot when in its closed or normal position and adapted to be opened by swinging its free or lower edge inward.

2. In combination with a letter-box provided with a slot for the introduction of mail-matter thereto, the detachable segmental plate B, provided with rib or bead and the inclined ledges g g and the pivoted flap a, resting at its ends upon said ledges when in its closed position and adapted to be opened by swinging its free or lever edge inward.

. 3. A letter-box provided with a slot for the introduction of mail-matter to said box, the lower wall of which slot is inclined downward and outward, in combination with a pivoted flap constructed and arranged to rest in an inclined position when in its normal or closed condition and to be opened to permit the introduction of mail-matter to said box by swing- I 5 two subscribing witnesses, on this 30th day of 20 July, A. D. 1889.

JAMES TREGURTI-IA.

\Vitnesses:

N. O. LOMBARD, HENRY H. KENDALL, 

